© Gene Schiavone 'Elo Experience' reviews Cirio in reviews Whiteside in reviews recent Boston Ballet reviews more Carla DeFord reviews

Based on excerpts from previously created ballets, Elo Experience was presented in 15 sections, with music ranging from Vivaldi to Philip Glass (all of it recorded and much too loud). A lead couple, danced by second second soloist Jeffrey Cirio and principal Larissa Ponomarenko, provided some semblance of continuity, but the entire performance sternly set its face against interpretation.

Elo’s use of opening melody of the Tchaikovsky’s first Piano Concerto, however, opened the door ever so slightly to the notion of coherence. It is not clear whether the choreographer is familiar with “Tonight We Love,” the song written to this music that was popular in the 1940s. The lyrics, although rather silly, are still evocative: “Tonight we love while the moon/Beams down in dream light tonight/We touch the stars/Love is ours …,” etc.

Interestingly enough, Ponomarenko and Cirio (who spoke and sang in addition to dancing) often mentioned the moon. Beginning with Cirio, they repeatedly asked, “Does she like moonlight?” This question later morphed into “Does she like sunshine?” and then became a sort of mantra: “Moonlight, sunshine, moonlight, sunshine.” Later in the performance, Cirio and Ponomarenko sang the opening lines of the old Sinatra song “Fly Me to the Moon.”

In “Brake,” the final section of the performance, Elo set his choreography to the presto from the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante in E Flat Major, and it’s difficult to imagine sunnier music than that. The dancers appeared to be fairly carefree and were dressed in a mustard color that was just yellow enough to make a solar association possible. Although the evening did not end in Mozartean high spirits, an optimistic note had been sounded.

On the other hand, some sections of Elo Experience were undeniably dark. Perhaps the most disturbing was “Lost,” in which corps member Robert Kretz appeared to get some kind of thrill out of murdering corps member Rachel Cossar. In fact, her death, or spastic stroke, reminded me of the various murderous attempts made on the Chosen One in Elo’s “Le Sacre du Printemps.” When I spoke to one of the dancers after a rehearsal, he called this section “weird,” and I’d have to agree.

Among the performers, several seemed especially attuned to Elo’s vision. First and foremost was principal Lia Cirio, who inhabited the choreography with such ease and fluidity that she made it seem like a language, complete with sentences and punctuation. This contrasted with her performance as Nikita in La Bayadere earlier this season in which she seemed worried about her every move. Cirio (Jeffrey is her brother) spent a year touring with the Trey McIntyre Project, and it showed. Almost as impressive were second soloist Whitney Jensen and soloist John Lam.

Elo’s movement vocabulary seemed to concern itself with the juxtaposition of hip-hop robotic dancing, classical ballet, and obsessive-compulsive movement (like repeatedly turning a doorknob, rubbing the hands together, jerking the head forward and back, turning the hand near the ear as if manipulating some kind of telephone, etc.). Jeffrey Cirio was particularly adept at the hip-hop moves. He could take on any of the street dancers that appear on the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance” and give them a run for their money. He also did some amazing jumps.

Ponomarenko was most convincing in classical poses, which is not surprising since she is undoubtedly one of the world’s great ballerinas. She was game to try on all kinds of contemporary moves, but they didn’t suit her quite as well as they did Lia Cirio. On the other hand, I’ve seen her in other contemporary pieces, like Helen Pickett’s “Layli O Majnun” and Viktor Plotnikov’s “Rhyme,” which were more obviously about emotion, and in those she was stupendous.

Despite the use of the lead couple as a unifying device, Elo Experience overall appeared to be a commentary on disconnection - both social and artistic. Yet at the end of the evening, one was left with the question: “Does Elo like moonlight or sunshine?” Does he embrace the dark side or the light? The only answer seems to be that he is attracted to both and rests with neither.